A data element name is a name given to a
data element in, for example, a
data dictionary or
metadata registry. In a formal data dictionary, there is often a requirement that no two data elements may have the same name, to allow the data element name to become an identifier, though some data dictionaries may provide ways to qualify the name in some way, for example by the application system or other context in which it occurs.
In a database driven data dictionary, the fully qualified data element name may become the primary key, or an alternate key, of a Data Elements table of the data dictionary.
The data element name typically conforms to
ISO/IEC 11179 metadata registry naming conventions and has at least three parts:
*Object, Property and
Representation term
A representation term is a word, or a combination of words, that semantically represent the data type (value domain) of a data element. A representation term is commonly referred to as a ''class word'' by those familiar with data dictionaries. ISO/ ...
.
Many standards require the use of
Upper camel case to differentiate the components of a data element name. This is the standard used by
ebXML,
GJXDM and
NIEM
NIEM ( ) originated as an XML-based information exchange framework from the United States. NIEM also supports NIEM JSON exchanges. NIEM is currently developinthe NIEM Metamodel and Common Model Formatwhich can be expressed in any data serializa ...
.
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Example of ISO/IEC 11179 name in XML
Users frequently encounter ISO/IEC 11179 when they are exposed to
XML Data Element names that have a multi-part
Camel Case format:
Object
ualifierProperty RepresentationTerm
The specification also includes normative documentation in appendices.
For example, the XML element for a person's given (first) name would be expressed as:
John
Where Person is the Object=Person, Property=Given and
Representation term
A representation term is a word, or a combination of words, that semantically represent the data type (value domain) of a data element. A representation term is commonly referred to as a ''class word'' by those familiar with data dictionaries. ISO/ ...
="Name". In this case the optional qualifier is not used, in spite of being implicit in the data element name. This requires knowledge based on data element name, rather than use of structured data.
See also
*
Data dictionary
*
Data element
*
Data element definition
*
ISO/IEC 11179
*
Representation term
A representation term is a word, or a combination of words, that semantically represent the data type (value domain) of a data element. A representation term is commonly referred to as a ''class word'' by those familiar with data dictionaries. ISO/ ...
*
Semantic spectrum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Data Element Name
ISO/IEC 11179
Metadata
Metadata registry